Sometimes You Have to Read Something Twice to Make Sure You Got it Right

Couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut?

The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life called Italy’s notorious Law 194 legalizing abortion “a pillar of society” this weekend, insisting that no one is looking to overturn it.

Interviewed by Italian state television Rai Tre, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia lauded the 1978 law allowing abortion in Italy, a move that critics called a new ‘ground zero of morality.’

‘I believe that at this point the Law 194 is a pillar of our social life,’ the archbishop stated. ‘In my opinion, and I have written as much, I would like to see more emphasis on the part that is hardly spoken of, namely the right to motherhood, to see our country grow, in the face of the drama of a generational imbalance that is quite dramatic.’

“I would exhort to look with trust upon a country that wishes to live in liberty, in development and progress, and I think that the crisis in natality is a problem on which we have unfortunately not reflected and it is already late,” he said.

So a primate of the Holy Catholic Church, the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life no less, says he’s fine with a law permitting abortion in the state that surrounds the Vatican, that he isn’t interested in seeing it overturned. While the Academy for Life is not officially connected with the Vatican, it certainly is cozy with it. So far, not a word from Pope about the matter.

Words fail. That is a rare occurrence for your Tatler.

UPDATE: The oldest dodge of all: ‘The Pontifical Academy for Life’s spokesman said afterward that the word ‘pillar’ had been taken out of context. In other words: “Yes, he said it, but it doesn’t mean what he said.’